GRAND RAPIDS, MI – A retailing consultant had good news for the future of retailing in downtown Grand Rapids. He also had some not-so-good news.

The good news? There's a pent-up market potential "for a grocery store, a junior department store, and an urban format department store," according to a consultant hired by the Downtown Development Authority.

The downtown area could support another 566,400 square feet of retail and restaurant space by 2017, potentially generating up top $205 million in additional sales every year, according to a market analysis prepared by Gibbs Planning Group.

The not-so-good news? "The present commercial supply gap is primarily due to non-market circumstances such as parking management, marketing, street patterns and poor business practices," the report concluded.

The analysis, which will be presented to the DDA board Wednesday, paints a rosy future and offers harsh criticism for the city’s central business district that has struggled to support retail shopping for more than a generation.

The greater Grand Rapids area is “an under-served retail market filled with significant expansion opportunities.” That demand could be met by downtown retailers, Gibbs concluded in its report.

The report broke the downtown area into four districts, each of which has potential for growth. The districts and their assessments include:

EAST FULTON DISTRICT: “Surprisingly, the district has a large number of commercial vacancies, even though the area has excellent street frontage and visibility,” the report said.

The East Fulton District could support a home furnishings store, an electronic store such as a Radio Shack or phone stores, a hardware store, a garden store and a convenience grocery store, the analysis concluded. The new stores could generate up to $6.7 million in annual sales, the study said.

IONIA-COMMERCE CORRIDOR: “The Ionia-Commerce Corridor will become a regional draw with the opening of the new 125,000-square-foot Downtown Market,” the study said.

“The market will offer fresh and prepared foods and likely have a regional draw, creating a demand for additional specialty retailers, restaurants, residential and office development,” said the study, concluding the market will generate $27 million in annual sales by 2017.

SOUTH DIVISION DISTRICT: “Unfortunately, the area’s commerce is underperforming for numerous non-market reasons, which include a concentration of subsidized housing, lack of market rate housing, aggressive panhandling, limited access to capital, poor management, limited parking, vagrancy and a general lack of modern business practices by many of its retailers and restaurants.”

“If accepted urban planning and retail industry standards are adopted, this additional space would generate up to $34 million in annual sales in 2012,” the study concluded.

GOVERNMENT/MONROE CENTER: The downtown center is easily accessible, has a large base of daytime employees, plenty of parking and an emerging residential base, the study concluded.

Downtown’s “core trade area,” which stretches out 1½ miles from the center of downtown, includes 23,800 daytime workers, 26,400 residents and almost 12,000 households, the report said.